Bushey manhunt latest: Urgent search for crossbow attack suspect Kyle Clifford after BBC Five Live racing commentator John Hunt’s wife and two daughters were ‘tied up and shot dead’

A mother and her two daughters who were found ‘murdered’ in a deadly crossbow attack at their home were the family of BBC racing commentator John Hunt.

John reportedly raised the alarm after finding his wife Carol and two daughters seriously injured at their £800,000 detached house in Bushey, Hertfordshire last night, according to the Telegraph.

Armed police later descended on the four-bedroom house on Ashlyn Close where they discovered the victims with serious injuries, which they later died from. Police sources said the three women were tied up before being shot.

Read Dan Woodland’s report, here:

A manhunt is underway for a ‘crossbow attack’ suspect after three women were found ‘murdered’ in a home.

Kyle Clifford, 26, from Enfield, is being hunted by police after three women, who are believed to be from the same family, died at their in £800,000 detached house Bushey, Hertfordshire.

Armed police rushed to the four-bedroom house on Ashlyn Close last night where they discovered the victims with serious injuries.

The three women – a mother and her two daughters – died at the scene a short while later.

The victims were reportedly the family of BBC racing commentator John Hunt, it emerged today.

Mr Hunt reportedly raised the alarm after finding his wife Carol and two daughters seriously injured at their home.

New home secretary Yvette Cooper has described the deaths as ‘truly shocking’, and said that she is being kept informed

Police are hunting the main suspect in the attack, Clifford and warn he may still be armed and is dangerous.The public have been urged not to approach him and call 999.

This afternoon, local policing commander Jon Simpson made a direct appeal to Clifford, to hand himself in to cops.

In a press conference at Hatfield police station he described the killings as ‘a horrific incident involving what is currently believed to be a crossbow, but other weapons may also have been used’.

The officer also described the attacks as a ‘targeted incident’.

Police have also appealed to anyone who was in or around Ashlyn Close between lunchtime and 7pm on Tuesday to call them if they saw anything suspicious.

Oliver Dowden, the MP for Hertsmere, expressed his fears in a post on X – formerly Twitter – today.

The former deputy prime minister said he was ‘working to provide support for the community’ and that his ‘thoughts and prayers’ were with the friends and family of the victims

Killings involving a crossbow are typically rare but ministers had considered tightening laws in a bid to stop the weapons being used in violent attacks.

The previous Tory government looked at bringing in firearms licensing-style rules in the wake of an attempt to kill the late Queen with a crossbow.

There is currently no registration system for owning a crossbow, no requirement for a licence and they appear to be readily available to buy online.

But it is illegal for anyone under 18 to buy or own one, with anyone carrying a crossbow in public without a reasonable excuse facing up to four years behind bars.

Plans for crossbow owners to face police checks were mooted as part of efforts to ‘step up action to prevent violence on our streets’, the Home Office said earlier this year.

The department launched an eight-week consultation in February to see if there should be a licensing system to control the use, ownership and supply of crossbows, with anyone looking to buy one facing police checks – similar to regulations already in place for firearms.

The Home Office completed the work in April but the General Election being called stalled any further progress until now.

Armed police have searched an address in Rendlesham Road, Enfield, as the manhunt for Kyle Clifford continues.

The house, close to Gordon Hill railway station, was swarmed by officers on Wednesday morning, according to neighbours.

Two officers were stood outside the property at 1.30pm, after a cordon was removed.

One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: ‘They kept going in and out of the property carrying guns, the whole road was taped off.

‘It was over quite quickly but there’s been helicopters flying around the area all day.

‘I don’t recognise the suspect at all, as far as I’m concerned he didn’t live in the house.’

Two helicopters have been seen circling Hilly Fields Park close to the home of triple murder suspect, Kyle Clifford.

A ‘co-ordinated search’ is reportedly taking place at the site, opposite Clifford’s home, and a car of possible interest has been found.

Triple murder suspect Kyle Clifford ‘used to work as a private security guard’, it today emerged.

Sky News is reporting the 26-year-old’s profession – as a major police operation continues in an effort to find him

Murder suspect Clifford has been on the run since last night, after three women – now understood to be the wife and two daughters of BBC 5 Live racing commentator John Hunt, were found dead in Herfordshire.

A former detective chief inspector has said it is a ‘great worry’ triple suspect Kyle Clifford has been given a ‘head start’.

Simon Harding, who was an officer with the Met Police for 30 years, has given a view on the manhunt for Clifford.

Speaking to GB News,he described what the security operation to hunt down the 26-year-old could look like – and why it’s a ‘priority’ for officers to ‘bring him in as quickly as possible’.

Hereford’s police and crime commission has said the triple killings in Bushey will ‘send shockwaves’ through the community.

In a statement this afternoon, Jonathan Ash-Edward described the attacks as a ‘terrible incident’.

Read what he has to say, here:

St Michael’s Primary School in Enfield is on lockdown, with pupils being kept inside as a precaution as the manhunt for Kyle Clifford continues in the area.

The school’s headteacher told Sky News the police have been to the school to reassurane children and staff and told them to ‘continue as normal as possible’.

She added that officers were ‘doing as much as they can’ in the wake of the horror attack.

Forensic officers have been spotted outside the address of the horror attack in Hertfordshire.

Specialists wearing white overalls are in Ashlyn Close, Bushey, where three women, who police believe to be related, were found with serious injuries and died on Tuesday.

Chief Superintendent Jon Simpson said police were doing everything they can to keep the public safe during their manhunt for Kyle Clifford.

Here’s what he said in today’s press conference:

Our overarching objective today is to protect public safety and to locate Kyle Clifford, who is wanted in connection with the murder of the three women in what we believe is a targeted incident.

We have extensive police resources deployed to various locations in north London and also the Bushey area.The manhunt also involves armed police officers and specialist search teams responding at pace in the wake of what has been a horrific incident involving what is currently believed to be a crossbow, but other weapons may also have been used.

Kyle, if you are seeing or hearing this, please make contact with the police.

Police have revealed several key details during this afternoon’s press conference. These included:

• the ages of the victims, all believed to be related, were given as 25, 28 and 61
• the weapon used was believed to be a crossbow but ‘other weapons may also have been used’
• police said their ‘overarching objective today is to protect public safety and to locate Kyle Clifford’
• officers added the attacks were a ‘targeted incident’

During a press conference this afternoon, police said the three women had been killed in a ‘targeted incident’.

Giving an update Chief Superintendent Jon Simpson said officers were ‘actively seeking Kyle Clifford, 26, who is wanted for the murders.

In a statement to the media, the top officer urged Walker to give himself in and claimed the attacks had involved a crossbow and possibly other weapons.

‘Kyle, if you’re seeing or hearing this, please make contact with police, Chief Superintendent Simpson pleaded.

Local councillor Lawrence Brass, who lives close by the scene in Bushey, said: ‘I didn’t know them personally but I knocked on their door, I was canvassing a few days ago for the General Election.

‘I’m sure that their friends will be comforting the remains of the family that are left. These are all my representatives, I know them all.

‘At 7pm last night a helicopter landed on the lawn in the development I live in which is 100 yards away from here, but it was an air ambulance, I’m told, and then rumours started circulating about a crossbow.

‘The worst thing that’s ever happened in this part of Bushey is a bit of illegal flytipping and then suddenly we get three murders and we’re all a bit shellshocked.

‘This is a very traditional, quiet, leafy suburb, we don’t get this sort of thing in this area and I want residents to know that the council will be ensuring that the liaison team is down here and doing everything they can to comfort them and make sure that they are reassured that everything is being done.

‘But we’re worried that this guy is still floating around somewhere.’

Hertfordshire Police is holding a press conference at 12.30pm later today regarding the triple murder in Bushey.

It will be led by Chief Superintendent Jon Simpson, the force said.

This morning Ashlyn Close was cordoned off while scenes of crime officers carried out a forensic examination.

Aerial shots of the scene aired on the BBC show a blue and white forensic tent in the front garden of one of the homes in the cul-de-sac, with a police officer on guard and several police vehicles parked nearby.

East of England Ambulance Service confirmed three ambulances, a rapid response vehicle, an ambulance officer vehicle, the Hazardous Area Response Team, the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance and London Air Ambulance were sent to the scene last night.

Derek Turner, 73, said that although the road was a close there were two other entrances and exits – one was an alleyway and through a car park at block of flats – where a killer could escape on foot.

‘It is always a very quiet area here. Nothing ever goes on here. It is very, very peaceful. It is so unusual for this area. I have lived here a long time.

‘It happened all of a sudden. The whole place went crackers. Teh were police cars everywhere. Armed police in black uniforms with semi-automatic guns. I thought it was a terrorist thing.

‘They locked off the street and have stopped anyone getting through.’

One local resident, who lives on a nearby street, told MailOnline of the moment dozens of police descended onto the quiet street.

He said: ‘From 7pm there was like 20 police cars coming down, four ambulances and then armed police came and they were here till midnight.

‘I know of them (the victims). So a few of them went to school with people that I know. That’s all I know. I didn’t know them personally.

‘I know they went to schools in the area in the area. They didn’t go to my school.’

Another local, Francis Turner, was watching Germany play France in the Euros sime finals when she heard shouting outside.

She told The Sun: ‘My husband and I were watching the football when we heard sirens and shouting. There were around 30 policemen outside.

‘There were armed police. They came and knocked on our door and told us to stay inside and keep our doors shut.’

Local councillor Laurence Brass, who lives nearby, said the area is ‘a typical leafy British suburb’. He told the BBC:

At about eight o’clock last night, I was watching the football on television, and suddenly a helicopter landed in the lawn outside my flat, which is at the top of this road, and then my phone started going, and I was told that there was a major incident here in Bushey and we should all keep away because there was somebody apparently on the run.

This is not something that happens in Bushey.

We can’t remember a murder in our rather quiet neck of the woods, so (it’s a) terrible shock and our sympathies and prayers and thoughts are with the families of the three women.

That really is a terrible thing to happen to anybody, and I’ve gathered they’re all from the same family, which obviously makes it even more tragic, and we’ll do everything we can as the local council to add our source of comfort where we can.

Welcome to MailOnline’s liveblog as police have launched an urgent manhunt for crossbow attack suspect Kyle Clifford (below) after three women are believed to have been murdered in Hertfordshire.

Follow for the latest updates in the search for the 26-year-old from Enfield, who is believed to still be armed and is dangerous.